So we sat down the other night thinking, how can we make this easier on ourselves. We realized, for us, there are five components to the perfect meal, for toddlers mostly, but ideally something we can make that everyone can eat (I’m not really one to make separate meals for the kids, although if we eat spicy food we typically cook two separate things).
1. Healthy. I think we can all agree that this is the most important. We all want to feed our kids nutritious foods, things that are good for their bodies & aren’t full of artificial ingredients. We do try to feed our kids mostly healthy foods, and incorporate lots of fruits & vegetables into most meals, but we also find a good balance in letting them still be kids and still have sweets & treats here and there.
2. Minimal Mess. Pasta is one of our favorite things to make, but every time we eat it, we spend an hour in the kitchen cleaning up, swearing we aren’t doing it again for months. What can we make that doesn’t require pressure washing the kitchen later?!
3. Minimal Prep Time. Lots of my favorite, healthy meals require lots of prep time. Whether it’s cutting vegetables, cutting chicken or just too many pots on the stove. We’re looking at slow cooker & one-pot meals to solve this.
4. Affordable. There are options like pre-prepped meal kits or even dining out that could solve basically all of these other issues, but they’re not always affordable. Most times, even lots of really healthy food, especially all-organic, is quite a bit higher priced.
5. And your kids actually like it. You made a healthy, affordable meal, that requires minimal prep time & results in minimal messes, but the kicker, will your kids enjoy it?
So, what fits into all of those categories?! I don’t really have the answer, but it would be ideal to start making a list of things that work for weeknight dinners. Weekends don’t count, it’s a free-for-all over here & I don’t mind spending hours in the kitchen prepping/cleaning for something delicious! 🙂
A few things that do work for us here, are most breakfast foods. The kids do so well with oatmeal, yogurt & waffles/pancakes, topped with fruit. Lunch meat or rotisserie chicken is usually a good option as well, the girls love grilled turkey or ham & cheese sandwiches with sliced apples, bananas or oranges. Steamed edamame is another favorite, super quick, healthy & they eat every last bit. But then it comes to dinners, and it’s hard to find things that fit into every category. Our plan is to work on this list & over the course of the next four weeks, come back with a solid list of dinner ideas! 🙂
For now, I’m sharing a few of the meals that have been on repeat this month for the kids.
For a bunch more ideas & a breakdown of what our current weekly lineup looks like (slightly different as this was a few months ago, but still very close), most of it is documented in this post! 🙂
Happy Friday!! XO
Not sure if your kids will eat spinach but my LO loves creamed spinach over potatoes. We eat it once a week, requires minimal time to prep and cook, is healthy and cheap.
http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/german-style-creamed-spinach.html
I have 2 toddlers and work FT and started doing hello fresh for their meal in a box and love it ! It's healthy, always enough to share w the kids (we do 4 meals for 2 ppl) and only takes 30 min to make the whole meal ! And the best part I dirty 1 knife, 1 cutting board and a pot. Should try it out.
🙁 my 3 yr old just became a picky eater. Everything she use to lI've she know refuses and hates, not to mention she will not try anything that doesn't look pretty in color or perfectly plated. She is so picky. My 19 month old will eat almost anything. The struggle is real and getting harder!
Lately I've been doing alot of sheet pan cooking. I'll get pre-chopped veggies at Costco (butternut squash, broccolini, sweet potato, bell peppers, asparagus, for example) and put it all on a sheet pan tossed with a bit of olive oil and seasoned salt/pepper – Roast at 400 degrees and your done in 30 mins. And its one pan to clean. Most of the time I'll throw some chicken or pork tenderloin on a seperate sheet pan with olive oil and salt & Pepper and put it in as well. It cooks in the same amount of time (flip it half way through). I got this idea from The Pioneer Woman blog and she's saved the day (read: my sanity) at dinner time many a night. Also, BAGGED SALAD. So Easy.
Those are all such good ideas! We do all of our veggie prep on sundays (cutting, washing, etc) so its super convenient to grab what you need for the week! Where do you get the kids dishes from.. I love the light pink plates + pink bowls but can never find anything as coordinated for my littles.
Love all your tips! Have you tried Emeals? They send weekly meal plans with ingredients and super quick recipes, you can choose the type of plan you want. Very helpful for a busy family!
We've been doing a boneless turkey breast in the crockpot with sweet potatoes a lot lately. It's SO easy, healthy and we all like it.
We are just a family of two (and two dogs) but both work full time, commute and I am in school full-time so every Sunday we meal plan for the week and grocery shop that morning. Even if it's just planning to have grilled cheese on a Tuesday, it helps to not stress about what to make. Crockpot meals are my favorite and one pot meals but they require a little more prep. These are some of our favorites that have been in the rotation several months.
http://www.amynewnostalgia.com/cheesy-tortellini-crockpot-soup-easiest-and-best-crockpot-meal/
http://mylitter.com/recipes/fiesta-chicken-crockpot-recipe/
http://damndelicious.net/2014/10/10/slow-cooker-pork-carnitas/?m&m
http://www.beyerbeware.net/2012/09/hunk-of-meat-monday-crock-pot-italian-chicken.html
Single pan meals are the best. Meat, veggies, potatoes, and a shot ton of oil and seasoning. Done. A hit every time. And- if you line the pan with foil or parchment, minimal clean up. It's awesome. Love this post btw!
You describe exactly our situation with the littleones. I love your 5 points there are so true and I hope you are going to post a list of your solutions…
Ok ladies!!! Let's come together and think of some ideas!! I also need help in this area – My daughters are 3 and 2. My 3-year-old doesn't like "dinner" and is extremely picky. My 2-year-old, like Eloise, will eat anything and will destroy the house in the process. She is SO messy!!
I have one meal that fits these categories. That is, assuming the kids like it, haha.
Chicken and Sweet Potatoes
Chopped sweet potatoes mixed with olive oil and seasonings (I use salt, pepper and a cajun seasoning on half), baked for 45 minutes at 400 degrees. You can either cook the chicken on the same pan as the sweet potatoes or throw the chicken in the crock pot in the morning and shred it up and place it on the sweet potatoes after baking. The kids really like this meal and it's really easy/healthy.
I'll be coming back for more ideas!!! Thanks, Jessica!
-Sarah http://www.coffeetalkformamas.com // http://www.thefrugalmillionaireblog.com
I feel as our mini meals get so repetitive, but the girls eat it and its nutritional so we go with it. That chicken, bacon broccoli pasta– gotta look that one up. It looks delicious!
Love making pulled pork in crock pot. Then you can use leftovers to make quesadillas which really aren't too messy and are easy finger foods!
It is so hard finding meals that everyone will like!! My toddler is quite the picky eater, so she usually gets her own dinner (which I hate doing). She finally likes pasta, so that's a weekly thing. I will be following along for sure. 🙂
I have 2 toddlers and feel like I spend an hour every night cleaning up after they are in bed. I am in favor of crock pot meals because they cut way down on prep time and I can put it together during breakfast or lunch when they are occupied with eating. Dinner is something I don't differentiate a lot, so my kids end up not eating as much as they do at other meals.
Something that works really well are mini burritos, where I use beans, cheese, avocado, greek yogurt and veggies (and meat if we have some in the fridge) and then I wrap it up in a whole wheat tortilla and pan fry it for a minute so it "seals" it and doesn't fall apart the minute they start eating (and avoid the toddler meltdown!). One tortilla cut in half feeds both kids.
We also do a lot of soups, and I usually strain out the soup part and give them what ever has been cooked in it. This is great because everything is really soft already and easy for them to eat.
If we do pizza, we usually do mini pizzas for the kids and fold the dough over (calzone style) so that it stays together better!
I'm anxious to see some of the suggestions and comments that come from this post. we are in the EXACT same situation at our house and I know so many other mama's that are, too! I'd love some new, fresh and easy ideas for our dinner time, too.
I'd love to share my gem with you. This is my GO TO food blog. I've been following for over 4 yrs now and usually when my hubby asks where I found a particular recipe he likes, it's from Mel 🙂
http://www.melskitchencafe.com/
OK so I follow this vegan blogger ohdeardrea.blogspot.com and she just put out a cookbook that is, yes, vegan but also super delicious with easy recipes that her kid likes. I try not to eat much meat and some of these are really working for me.
Another thing we've been doing is making soup on the weekends. We freeze a few of the portions for later (when we are no longer tired of that soup anymore) and have it for dinner one or two nights. So easy to heat back up, even more delicious after it's time sitting in the fridge, and really healthful (Use the carcass of your rotisserie chicken for some chicken and rice soup… nom!)
One meal I can rely on my 2.5 year old to eat is rice with veggies in it. Getting her to eat healthy lately has been an issue. We began telling her peas are "mini baseballs" and beans are "mini footballs" and that worked for a couple months… We also rely on freeze dried or frozen fruits a lot, because she will eat one thing for a day and decide not to eat a single bite more the rest of the week, I was wasting so much fruit.
My husband and I both work full-time so we too struggle at dinner time. We eat extremely healthy so it's not like I can use a bunch of canned/pre-packaged foods. One thing I love making is rice pilaf. I always start with brown rice (the 5 minute kind) and add in turkey meat, steamed veggies, almonds, even golden raisins or dried cherries for sweetness! I also love using fresh herbs for that extra boost of tasty goodness! I wish I had links to exact recipes, but usually I just grab whatever is in our fridge/cupboard and start cooking. My favorite is brown rice, black beans, cheddar cheese, salsa and jalapenos! Salads are usually quick and easy. Mini meatloaf in a muffin tin also are pretty quick to make too.
Girl you don't have to sacrifice flavor when it comes to meal prepping! We have been doing this for a while now and it is a LIFE SAVER. My hubby and I both work full time so getting home to cook was getting way too tiring. Have you tried ground turkey meat loaf? It one of our favorites and tastes just as good during the week! I make two meals on Sundays to last us for the week. It's the best thing we have ever done! 🙂
Our little guy (Brandon – great name, don't you agree) is almost 11 months old and has been eating everything we do for months now. I recently made a blog post about his Mini Meals – http://livinglarochelife.com/mini-meals/ and how I always try to incorporate healthy options! I also listed some super easy/quick meals that you can make at night in one pan for everyone! I hope you like them. 🙂 http://livinglarochelife.com/whats-on-your-plate-2/ and http://livinglarochelife.com/comfort-food-with-a-twist/
Danielle
http://www.livinglarochelife.com
How do you make overnight oats? Also check out Mix and Match Mama…awesome,mostly quick, yummy recipes!
Very interesting info!
How do you get your apples sliced so thin???
Here are some of my favorite easy recipes, although few have been kid-tested since my 8 month old is still eating mostly purees. He loves the turkey+noodle dish and the broth from the curry, though : )
* turkey+noodles – brown 1 lb ground turkey with 1 diced onion and 1-2 tsp herbs de provence over medium heat; add 2 quarts chicken stock, 1 lb frozen veggies (my favorite is cauliflower, broccoli & carrots), and 1/2 lb egg noodles (or pasta); simmer over low until veggies and pasta are tender (about 20 min)
* http://therecipecritic.com/2014/11/slow-cooker-chicken-fajita-soup/
* http://www.runnersworld.com/recipes/chickpea-curry-recipe
* http://noshandnourish.com/content/new-favorite-sweet-potato-chickpea-chili-wquinoa (involves a little more prep, but amazing!)
I have 2 girls 3 & 2. Dinner time is the worst in our house as well. I use the Weelicious cookbooks quite a bit. Most of the things are great for the whole family. My go to for my girls is oven roasted chicken legs. They LOVE them! The meat is more tender and flavorful than chicken breast and it cooks in the oven with minimal prep work.
http://www.101cookingfortwo.com/the-art-of-drummies-oven-baked-chicken/
Thanks for the ideas! You should join snapchat!
I have followed melskitchencafe.com for years! She is always my go-to. She is great for easy meals. Pesto chicken is a family favorite.
We have had the best success planning about 3 meals for the weekdays and staying a day ahead. i.e. start the week with a crockpot recipe, then mon I prep stuff for the next day's meal since dinner is already made. Worst case scenario, I can get stuff prepped after the kids are down. It has made evening meals so much easier. It does, however, cause repetitive flavors bc we roll ingredients used into the next meal, but hopefully that will improve as we get more successful meals under our belts.
Quesadillas! Whole wheat wraps, black beans/white beans, spinach, mashed sweet potatoes spread on tortilla shell and topped with avocado seriously amazing and the kids love the little triangles! Meets all 5 criteria! Hope you try them!
I only have one little guy who plays so well on his own (he's 18 months) but I swear at 4:30 when I try to get into the kitchen he refuses….every day! But I like simple too and don't like to cook much separate for him. Almost all of our meals come from the Skinnytaste website and are super healthy! I find that doing some prep work either night night before or the day of during naps or times when he's content helps. For instance, I made chicken and asparagus stir fry (which is one of his faves…weird kid won't eat mac and cheese but will gobble up asparagus) so I cut up all the chicken and veggies at nap time then I just had to cook it. I also love the crock pot and use it a lot when I know we have activities in the morning and then I go to the gym after his nap and don't have to worry about rushing. And usually, I can cook in the morning or after noon prepping a crockpot meal and he's just fine, lol! Another skinny taste is buffalo chicken chili which he also LOVES and would be perfect for you guys because you can take a portion out for the girls before you add the hot sauce which is what we do! I can't imagine cooking with and for that many with just my one plus dad 🙂
I love love love your meal posts, they always give me fresh ideas!
This is my absolute favorite weeknight recipe (via Pinterest not my link). Balsamic chicken with asparagus , grape tomatoes and carrots (we omit carrots). It's a one pan dish so there is very minimal cleanup plus it's healthy. My 19 month old loves every bit!
http://www.cookingclassy.com/2015/02/one-pan-balsamic-chicken-veggies/
Also check out The Frugal Chicks blog they have a ton of quick, easy crockpot recipes!
We love quinoa, it's easy for my preschooler and toddler to eat with a spoon, and there are so many variations! It's also heavy on protein so you don't have to worry about pairing with a meat if you don't have one on hand. Hot with frozen veggie mix tossed in when it's cooking (I boil it in chicken stock instead of water for loads of flavor) and seasoned with parm, garlic salt, and olive oil, or we love to have it chilled in a salad with avocado, cucumber, feta, spinach, sauteed bell pepper, olive oil and lime juice, or you can make it into a Mexican casserole sort of thing with black beans, corn, chedder cheese, avocado, and a mild canned enchilada sauce. It's admittedly not my husband's very favorite thing (mostly because he wants meat), but the kids and I love it! and it's super easy
Oh and forgot a Midwest staple.. Tater tot casserole!
I love one pot/pan meals. A few go to.. Chicken,potato, green beans 1.5 cups or so zesty Italian dressing cover bake 1 hr. If easy go to is tilapia, pancko and parmesan cheese a little seasoning to taste severed with steamer bag of broccoli and rice. Pinterest is my go to place. Do a little planning on Sunday for the week ahead
This is so helpful, as is your other post! I find myself struggling to feed my 15 month old, because she can be weird about meat and she isn't the biggest eater. Question, do you always do tomato sauce with pasta or is there another fave you like to use? Tomato sauce sometimes gets played out, but I can never think of another kid friendly alternative. Thanks!
My 2 year old is great with any breakfast food or bread item, but we have had the same battle with finding nutritious lunches and dinners for all of us to enjoy. We especially struggle with meat, because my daughter has decided she doesn't like the texture. Are go-to meals are 1)buying organic tomatoes and roasting them with peppers and then pureeing to make soup. (This one is costly due to buying tomatoes but pays off with making a big batch on weekends and freezing leftovers, and it's healthy) 2) Gnocchi with cheese sauce and peas. 3) From freezer aisle at Wal-Mart: Blake's chicken pot pies. I split one with my 2 year old, and make a sweet potato on the side. ALso, I will add my parents got us a pressure cooker for Christmas. It has been revolutionary in helping us make more healthy meals. You can pressure cook frozen chicken breast in 35 minutes and it tastes like they have been slow cooking! Move over crock pot, I don't have time for you anymore. I'm looking forward to reading more ideas!
I'm currently pregnant with my second and going through horrible morning sickness so I have barely entered the kitchen to cook in 6 weeks! However, before finding out I was pregnant I read a book called, What to Cook for Dinner with kids. It was an amazing resource that basically explained how to organize what is already working and create a monthly plan. After using the book as guidance I came up with 5 themed nights for the week: Mexican Monday, Italian Tuesday, Whatever Wednesday (or kids choice if they're older), Square meals Thursday and Easy Friday. It took me about an hour but I picked our recipes that are favorites and have been successes for us as a family and I slotted them in. On Sunday I bought all the ingredients I'd need for the week. If something came up and the planned meal was too complicated I just swapped it for another day. Unfortunately 2 days into this new routine I got really bad morning sickness and could no longer look at the menu I created for the month but I guess that is just life! I'm hoping to give it another go when this passes. Good luck!
Instead of making the meal and freezing it, I've found that taking about two hours on Sunday to do chopping and prep has made dinners so much easier! that way I have ready to eat fruit and veggies like bell peppers, carrot pieces, celery sticks, cherry tomatoes etc then you can also cook up some lean taco meat using buffalo, turkey or hamburger and keep for lunches or quick dinners. Get a rotisserie chicken and pull it clean to keep in fridge. Chop veggies for dinners like zucchini and squash, sweet potatoes, butternut squash so that it is ready to just put in a pan to roast. And at the end of the week I just throw everything in a skillet and make stir fry with whatever is left over. Cleaning up the mess is challenging for sure!! But the prep at the beginning of the week saves me so much time and guess work prior and during cooking that there is a little more time for cleaning up. Turkey roll ups with cheese sticks are easy and not too messy too!
Also…a few "make ahead" things that have worked for us…(also Pioneer Woman ideas)…grilling tons of chicken breast on a Sunday and freezing them for future tacos, salads, etc. and browning several pounds of ground beef with only salt and pepper and freezing individual bags makes for super quick tacos, spaghetti, etc. It's definitely a time saver. Her newest cookbook has a whole section on freezer cooking. I like to make a meal that can be re-heated the next day so that I'm not cooking every other night…we also meal plan for 2 weeks at a time. Just a few more ideas…hope it helps!
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking_cat/16-minute-meals/
I'm a huge fan of the Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond) and especially her 16-minute meals. Many of them are go-to in our house! Granted…several are pasta dishes because pasta's fast and east, but hopefully you find a few others that work for you!
You should try making Avgolemono! The name is the most difficult thing about this soup, which is somehow both kid AND adult friendly – and it only takes 15 minutes to make from start to finish. And for taking only 15 minutes to make it's actually a very filling, hearty meal. I personally love that it doesn't require chopping, prepping, or any kind of labor intensive work, and I normally have 90% of the ingredients on hand already. Try it once, love it forever. http://www.dinneralovestory.com/avgolemeno/
One of my favorite quick and easy things is crockpot Mexican chicken I found on Pinterest. Put several big chicken breasts (4 or so) in the crockpot. Mix a jar of mild salsa with a package of taco seasoning and spread that mix on top of the chicken. Cover and cook for 4 hours on high pull them out and shred the meat with a fork. It is awesome and not spicy at all!! I use this for everything from quesadillas, soft tacos, enchiladas, taco salad, and I even save the broth and add some of the chicken to make tortilla soup! You can freeze the cooked meat and pull it out as you want to use it for various meals. It's a winner for this college girl! 🙂
Toasties! A favorite is shredded cheese, shredded carrot and plain greek yogurt mixed together and spread on bread slices, then cooked like a grilled cheese with soup or another veg on the side. Combinations are endless. Agree on breakfast for dinner. A lifesaver since the kids prefer sweet over savory most times.
Such good ideas! I'm working on a post like this with some of our top toddler meals just for picky eaters! My boys are COMPLETE opposites when it comes to food! One loves fruit + veggies but hates meats. The other loves meat and hates fruit and veggies!
We like to get the precut Tyson brand of grilled chicken strips and steamer bags of corn and make chicken/corn salads just add shredded cheese and any other toppings like cut up fruit or a side of fruit salad. Another favorite is precut carrot slices, cucumbers, and a few pretzels with hummus and a side of fruit salad. These are lunch or dinner idea's as they are applicable to both. I make chicken roll-ups too. Baked chicken with veggies in a tortilla roll that both my 4 and 2 year old love and can actually handle pretty well. We occassionally do casseroles that only require layering and I use precut veggies if I know it's going to be a busy day. There are some really great stir-fry recipes too that you can do veggie prep on a Sat or Sun and use on a Mon/Tues that are customizable you might want to look into as well.
My go-to dinner meal is sweet potato burritos! I love it because my husband and I eat it as-is and I serve just the stuff inside to my 8 month old. He LOVES it! An added bonus is I always have extra filling to last through a couple more meals for him throughout the week! I got the recipe from talesofmeandthehusband, but you can find the link to her recipe on the good eats page of my blog.. ryneco.wordpress.com
Can't wait to see what other suggestions you mamas have!
Here are my repeats:
Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings (boys' favorite)
Put in crock pot:
3-4 chicken breasts
1 can fat free cream of chicken soup
salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder
add in chicken stock to cover.
Cook on high 3 hours or low 6.
Tear/cut refrigerated biscuit dough into small pieces and add to crock pot for the last 30 minutes of cooking.
Serve with bag of microwave steamed veggies.
Greek Yogurt Chicken
Line 9×13 baking pan with foil. Heat oven to 375.
Mix the following in a small bowl:
1 cup fat free plain Greek yogurt
1/3 cup parmesan cheese (grated or shredded)
1 tsp garlic powder
salt & pepper (about half tsp each)
Combine yogurt, cheese and spices in bowl then spread the mixture over 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts in the pan.
Bake for 45 minutes. Serve with orzo and peas (or other green veggie).
Here are my repeats:
Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings (boys' favorite)
Put in crock pot:
3-4 chicken breasts
1 can fat free cream of chicken soup
salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder
add in chicken stock to cover.
Cook on high 3 hours or low 6.
Tear/cut refrigerated biscuit dough into small pieces and add to crock pot for the last 30 minutes of cooking.
Serve with bag of microwave steamed veggies.
Greek Yogurt Chicken
Line 9×13 baking pan with foil. Heat oven to 375.
Mix the following in a small bowl:
1 cup fat free plain Greek yogurt
1/3 cup parmesan cheese (grated or shredded)
1 tsp garlic powder
salt & pepper (about half tsp each)
Combine yogurt, cheese and spices in bowl then spread the mixture over 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts in the pan.
Bake for 45 minutes. Serve with orzo and peas (or other green veggie).
Overnight Oats SO easy and yummy! I used a mason jar for easy mixing and transport.
1/2c Old Fashioned Oats
1/4-1/2c Plain Greek Yogurt
Splash Almond Milk
Flax Seeds
Spoonful of Nutella
Mix thoroughly and place in the fridge. When it's time to eat, I toss some raspberries. There's no real SET recipe, you can make them thicker, soupier or whatever else. Add banana, PB, strawberries, coconut or whatever treats you like.
We love english muffin pizzas around here! So easy, we even toss a few chopped leftover veggies and meat under the mozzerella cheese. Can't wait til my little one is old enough to put on her own pizza toppings! You can also pre-make these and store in the fridge, just pop in the oven when you're ready for them! Easy, inexpensive, healthy, fast.
Our family has been loving goulash lately. I use the top recipe on AllRecipes site and add chopped green pepper for an additional veggie. Cheap, simple, and delicious. We also do homemade pizza with ham steak, chopped veggies, fresh mozzarella and store bought pizza sauce & crust. Slow cooker pesto chicken (1/2 C low sodium chicken broth, 1 pkg dry ranch seasoning, 1 jar pesto, 6 chicken breasts – cook on high 4-6hrs or low 6-8hrs) is always a hit served with steamed green beans or broccoli/potatoes/bread or cut up with pasta & store bought Alfredo sauce & roasted red peppers.
So, I'm not trying to "sell" you anything, but reading your blog this week – it sounds like you could totally benefit from looking into Wildtree. It's a company that specializes in providing busy families, with natural, organic, non-GMO spices and sauces along with access to 100's of recipes. The main focus, however, for Wildtree is freezer meal workshops. By hosting one, or becoming a rep yourself, you would have access to over 20 different menus (each including 10 meals) – grocery and prep lists and recipes all included. There really is no guess work, you go to the store with your prepared list, come home and put everything into your designated gallon freezer bags, add the Wildtree ingredients and in about two hours, you have ten meals ready to throw in your freezer! If you want any more specific details, free free to email me: bobbiejomertens@gmail.com 🙂